Lubricant-cup



(No Model.)

J. H. SHEPHEARD.

LUBRIGANTOUP.

No. 554,092. Patented Peb.4,1896.

56.. Fig. 2. v

, lillllllflllllllll Nil mnumimn WITNESSES. INVENTOR:

W JOHN H-SHEPHEARDV ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES.

-ATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. SHEPHEARD, OF ALBANY, NElV YORK, ASSIGNOR OF TlVO-THIRDS TOROBERT C. BLAOKALL, OF SAME PLACE, AND CARROLL J. POST, OF

BROOKLYN, NElV YORK.

LUBRICANT-CUP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 554,092, dated February4, 1896.

Application filed November 29, 1892. Serial No. 453,482. (No model.)

To all whom it ntay concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN H. SHEPHEARD, of the city and county of Albany,in the State of New York, have invented new and useful 5 Improvements inLubricant-Cups, of which the following is a specification.

In mechanical engineering, but particularly that branch of it relatingto locomotive-engines, much difficulty has been experienced in providinglubricant-cups that would not become weakened by use so that the body ofthe cup would fall from the screw-stem, by which said cups are usuallysecured in their respective places, such lubricantcups, as a rule, beingmade of cast metal, usually bronze, brass, or gun-metal, with thescrewstem and body formed integrally of the same metal, the incessantjarring of the machine while in motion quickly producing a completegranulation of the metal that will destroy its integrity to such adegree that the body of the cup will separate and fall from the sternwithout apparent cause and without premonition, thereby leavingimportant parts of the machine without suitable lubrication and exposingthem to destructive wear and cutting that will soon render the engineunfit for use.

The objects of my invention are, first, to

. produce a lubricant-cup that will endure the jarring of alocomotive-engine without the metal or metals of Which'it is composedbecoming granulated sufficiently to affect its strength; and to effectthese ends my invention consists in providing a sore W-blank made ofwrought iron, steel, or other tenacious and malleable metal, andprovided with a flangeshaped head of a polygonous or other geometricalform of greater diameter than the body of said blank on which ascrew-thread is to be out, and casting the body of the lubricant-cupthereon in such manner that a portion of the body of said blankthatportion on which the screw-thread is to be cutwill protrude from thecasting, and then finishing the cup in the same manner that it would befinished if the body of the cup and the screw-stem were integral, thebody of said cup containing a lubricant-chamber having at its bottom aboss provided with a transverse passage, through which the lubricantwill pass toward the central line of said cup, said boss also having avertical opening, which corresponds to the opening through thescrew-stem, for the discharge of the lubricant.

In the accompanying drawings, which are herein referred to and form partof this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my lubricant-cupmade in cylindrical form, the lowerportion being shown in verticalsection to expose underlying parts that would otherwise be concealed;Fig. 2, a side elevation of my lubricant-cup made with an octagonalbody. Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively plan views of Figs. 1 and 2. Figs.5 and 6 are respectively a detached side elevation and detached invertedplan view of a malleablemetal blank for the screw-stem before it isinvolved in the cast metal of the lubricant-cup.

As illustrated in the drawings, A designates the body of mylubricant-cup, whose crosssectional form may either be cylindrical, asshown in Figs. 1 and 3, or polygonal, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. Vhenmade in a cylindrical form, said body should have a polygonous boss 1formed on it for the purpose of taking a wrench, by which said cup canbe screwed into place; but when made in the form shown in Figs. 2 and 4said boss may be dispensed with, and the wrench can be applied directlyto the parallel square parts of said body.

The body A is made of some cast metal, preferably of bronze, and ineither form shown it contains a lubricant-chamber 2, whose lower end hasa boss 3 centrally located therein and having a transverse passage 4,whose lower side should be at least as low as the plane of the bottom ofsaid chamber. The upper end of said body is provided with an opening,through which the lubricant is introduced into the chamber 2, and 0 intosaid opening a screw-stopper 5 is fitted to form a closure for saidopening.

At the lower end of the'body A a screwstem B projects for the purpose ofsecuring the lubricant-cup in a required position on the 9 5 part of themachine that the cup is to lubricate. Said screw-stem is first made inthe form of a blank, preferably in the shape shown in Figs. 5 and 6,with a cylindrical body 6 and a flange-shaped head 7, whose diameter isgreater than said body. Said blank is placed in the mold in which thecasting for the body A is to be made, and it is arranged in said mold insuch manner that, in the operation of casting, the head 7 will beinvolved by the molten metal, and nearly the entire body 6 will projectfrom the body of the lubricant-cup.

The blank for the screw-stem Bis made of malleable metal having greaterstrength and resistibility t-o granulation than the cast metal of thebody A, and by the shrinkage of the cast metal of said body in theprocess of solidifying while cooling the head and upper part of the bodyof said blank will be tenaciously held by the cast metal, and thescrew-stem will be much stronger and less liable to become granulatedthan if made integral with the body A. After the casting is completed adischarge-opening 8 is drilled through the boss 3 and screw-stem B, saiddischarge-opening being made for the purpose of allowing lubricant topass from the lubricant-chamber 2 to the part to be lubricated.

A feeding-rod C is fitted to pass loosely through the discharge-openingS and is of sufficient length to allow its lower end to ride on the partto be lubricated and its upper end to extend to the upper part of theopening in the top of the body A, where it will be in position to beeasily reached by the fingers of an attendant, who by imparting areciprocating movement to said rod can pump the lubricant through thedischarge-opening 8 onto the part to be lubricated.

In addition to its function of mechanically pumping the lubricant thefeeding-rod C, by becoming slightly warmed by the moving part on whichit bears, serves to liquefy an incrassated lubricant to a conditionwhich will allow it to flow freely by its gravity from thelubricant-chamber 2. When preferred, a checkpin 9 can be fixed crosswisein the feedingrod 0, and by bearing on the top of the boss 3 saidcheck-pin will prevent the feeding-rod C from descending below aprescribed point.

In manufacturing my lubricant-cup after the casting of the body A hasbeen completed, with the blank for the screw-stem B embedded therein, ashereinbefore described, said casting is chucked in alathe or othersuitable tool, the cylindrical portions of said body finished, and ascrew-thread cut on the screwstem B in the usual manner.

I am aware that in the art of metal founding it is not new to form acomposite body by casting metal in a molten state on a rod or other bodyin a solid state; but as heretofore practiced whenever said bar was tohave the form of a screw it has been usual to have the screw-thread cutthereon before it was placed in the mold in which the molten metal wascast thereon, and, as a rule, the screw would be imperfectly centralizedand out of a proper alignment with the body of the casting. A furtherdefect in the previous practice just referred to is that the screwquickly becomes loosened by use.

I do not broadly claim every form of malleable-metal blank forscrew-stems to be involved by cast metal in a lubricant-cup; but

Vvhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

The herein-described lubricant-cup, consisting of a cast-metal body, A,and a malleable'metal screw-stem, B, having a cylindrical body, 6, and aflange-shaped head, 7, of greater diameter than its body; said screwstembeing made independently of the lubricant-cup and involved in thecasting of said cup, so that its head and part of its body will be heldby the cast metal as and for the pur- I pose herein specified.

JOHN H. SIIEPIIEARD.

itnesses WM. II. Low, S. B. BREWER.

